New York Times: Will Frontex Leave Greece Due to Migrant Rights Violations?

A few days after the deadliest shipwreck in the Mediterranean (at sea at Pylos) representative EU stated that the Greek authorities continue to violate the rights of migrants, according to the NYT.

Frontex’s head of human rights said last week that it could suspend operations in Greece due to chronic violations of migrant rights, which could lead to the withdrawal of dozens of border guards, ships and planes from a key gateway to Europe, according to the US newspaper The New York Times. who has repeatedly reported on Greece and how it deals with the problem of migration.

This statement, which was also in an internal report obtained by the New York Times, comes just days after one of the most catastrophic migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, an incident that was not included in the EU report as it happened recently.

Questions about the shipwreck in Pylos and more
This tragedy raised new questions about the attitude of the Greek authorities, including whether they did enough to help the ship when it was in distress, writes NYT. The report by EU Spokesperson Jonas Grimheden puts even more pressure on Greece in connection with its policy towards migrants. Grimheden cites Frontex’s internal rules, as well as several cases that demonstrate what he called “the unfair treatment of asylum seekers and migrants by the Greek authorities.”

A case in point is an investigation by The Times in May that revealed that the Greek Coast Guard had picked up and then dumped 12 asylum seekers on a raft in the Aegean Sea, including women, children and a six-month-old baby. Grimheden told the Frontex board that his own investigation showed that the conclusions were correct and that what happened violated EU and international law.

Withdrawal of border guards and … strengthening of border security
In a confidential report to Frontex management, Grimheden advised the board “possible measures to address the issue of the agency’s activities in Greece in connection with Article 46,” which provides for the withdrawal of the agency for violating fundamental rights. However, reflecting the difficult reality of operating at one of Europe’s main gateways, in another section of the report, he also recommended strengthening the agency’s presence and engagement to prevent further abuse.

Grimheden called for “the most drastic measures” to bring Greece “in line with national, European and international law” and explicitly referred to the suspension of operations in the country, according to a brief report by a European Parliament spokesman. However, Grimhaeden’s recommendations are not binding and are subject to approval by EU governments and the commission.

NYT “sees” EU and Mitsotakis’ tough immigration policy as the reason

Frontex has a delicate mission: to help secure the external borders of the European Union while protecting the rights of new arrivals, including when applying for asylum. It provides support to border countries such as Greece by sending security guards from all over Europe and providing helicopters, boats, drones and other equipment.

Europe’s immigration policy has tightened significantly in recent years, the NYT writes, after more than a million refugees arrived in the country in 2015-2016, mostly from Syria. Immigration is fueling the campaigns of populist, far-right parties across the European Union and is helping to shift mainstream EU politics to the right.

Greeks on Sunday re-elected party “New Democracy”, expressing a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakisa leading proponent of a tough immigration policy, the American newspaper notes.

However, as worries about migration grew throughout the bloc, so did the powers of Frontex, which is currently the most funded agency in the bloc.

Allegations of concealment of information and violations are also directed against Frontex

Of course, it should be recalled that Frontex has also been accused of obscuring, hiding, or even participating in human rights violations. Its chief executive resigned last year amid allegations of harassment, mismanagement and rights violations, and the agency vowed to reform under new leadership.

“But the alleged violations of rights in Greece illustrate the complexity of the task,” the NYT said. Grimheaden has repeatedly recommended that Frontex suspend its operations in Greece, saying in previous reports it has “credible reports” of Greek authorities pushing migrants back onto land and sea, separating children from their parents and treating migrants in a “degrading” manner.

Instead of suspending operations, Frontex has set up a joint “working group” with Greece. A few months later, in a final report, Grimheden stated that “essentially, nothing seems to have changed in the practice of the Greek authorities.”

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